-For Trump, “feelings create facts” instead of facts creating facts!

Unfortunately, this is the typical thought process that goes on in the minds of people with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). For people with this mental illness, once they feel a particular way about some topic, it becomes a fact in their mind. They seek confirmation of their beliefs even from untrustworthy sources. They do not check to see if their feelings agree with verifiable evidence.

Mentally healthy people will check external trustworthy sources of information to see if their feelings are correct or not. Those with BPD often lack the ability to accurately self-examine their thought processes for logical inconsistencies.

America needs leaders who have the capacity to tell the difference between FACTS and FEELINGS!

I have a little different take. Over time, few of our most strongly held beliefs arose from or are based on evidence. With great effort and self education, we might change a belief. When did you last change an important one?

When referring to Borderline Personality Disorder, the strong tendency of these patients is to have severe identity problems where they do not know who they are or what they believe. As a consequence, they frequently take on the identities of the people they are around like a chameleon changes colors depending on its surroundings. This results in their often changing their feelings and beliefs, along with the underpinning “facts” supporting the beliefs, depending the people they are around. If however, they are around just one particular stable group, their feelings and the “facts” they believe in may remain constant.

I agree many of our beliefs may not be based on facts and changing our minds can be difficult. For those with BPD it is exceptionally harder to be persuaded by contradictory evidence. For them it can be almost inconceivable that evidence that contradicts what they feel or believe could be true. This is where their feelings determine what is factual and true.

I have changed my mind on different issues when the evidence shows that a better explanation exists.